X-Nico

47 unusual facts about Bilbao


1592 in Ireland

December - Edmund MacGauran, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh arrives at Drogheda from Bilbao (having escaped attack by pirates) with a promise from King Philip II of Spain to send troops to support a rebellion in Ireland next summer.

Abando

Nowadays, the name refers to the central district and neighbourhood of this city, holding the provincial administration, the long-distance RENFE Bilbao-Abando train station, three subway stations (Abando, Moyúa and Indautxu), and many commerces like El Corte Inglés department store.

Basque Center for Applied Mathematics

Mazarredo, 14 in Bilbao, the capital of the province of Biscay in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

Battle of Bilbao

By June 11, 1937, the Basque forces had fallen back to the city of Bilbao, which was defended by a series of rushed fortifications called the "Bilbao's Iron Ring." The Iron Ring was poorly designed for defense.

Bilbao-Atxuri Station

Bilbao-Atxuri Station, commonly known only as Bilbao-Atxuri or Atxuri Station is a terminal station located in the neighborhood of Atxuri, in the district of Ibaiondo in Bilbao, Spain.

Bilbao's Iron Ring

However, it was quite an antiquated defence concept akin to First World War fortifications, so it was vulnerable to modern warfare weapons of its time such as aircraft and artillery, and only 30,000 troops were defending it (it was conceived to be defended by 70,000) — therefore the Iron Ring was rather easily overcome by the Nationalist faction forces in the battle of Bilbao.

British propaganda during World War I

Special telegraph agencies were established in various European cities, including Bucharest, Bilbao and Amsterdam, in order to facilitate the spread of information.

Carlos Sobera

His first contact with the world of theater was in 1980 when he created, in his native Bilbao, a group called La Espuela.

Cercanías Bilbao

It consitsts of three lines; named C-1, C-2 and C-3, and the three of them starting at Bilbao-Abando station, which is the central station of the city.

The network consists of three lines, all of them starting at Bilbao-Abando and linking the center of Bilbao with other municipalities within the metropolitan area.

Comet line

In August 1941 Andrée de Jongh appeared in the British consulate in Bilbao with a British soldier (James Cromar from Aberdeen) and two Belgian volunteers (Merchiers and Sterckmans), having travelled by train from Paris to Bayonne and then on foot over the Pyrenees.

Elision

The perceived vulgarity of the silent d may lead to hypercorrections like *bacalado for bacalao (stockfish) or *Bilbado for Bilbao.

Eugenio Fojo

Fojo studied in England, Italy, the United States, Switzerland and Germany before returning to set up a business in Bilbao.

Euskotren Tranbia

The stops of Bilbao-Atxuri Station, Ribera and Abando, all of them in Bilbao, do not have their own separate stop, they use the sidewalk.

The first network, then named EuskoTran and later Euskotran started in Bilbao in 2002, after two years under construction, connecting the Bilbao-Atxuri Station with Uribitarte.

Euskotren Trena

Eusko Trenbideak, who operates the Euskotren Trena brand has its central offices in the Bilbao-Atxuri Station, in the district of Ibaiondo, in Bilbao.

Hove

It has been designed by the renowned Canadian architect Frank Gehry who also designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

Hugo Sack

He was subsequently commissioned by a British firm to erect a wire-drawing plant in Spain, near Bilbao, on which he continued for a year to act as manager.

Iberia Airlines Flight 610

Iberia Airlines Flight 610 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Madrid to Bilbao, Spain.

On 19 February 1985, a Boeing 727-200 operating the flight crashed into a television antenna on the summit of Mount Oiz in Biscay near Bilbao.

Ibrahim Camejo

His personal best jump is 8.46 metres, achieved in June 2008 in Bilbao.

Jacques-Théodore Saconney

The report states that between 1919 to 1922, the French commercial aviation acquired its first experience and its supremacy by setting permanent air routes between Paris-London, Paris-Brussels, Paris-Strasbourg-Prague-Warsaw, Paris-Geneva, Bordeaux-Toulouse-Montpellier, Nimes-Marseilles, Toulouse-Casablanca and Bayonne-Bilbao.

Jedd Novatt

In 2012 the city of Bilbao, Spain installed Chaos Nervion by Jedd Novatt in the Campa de los Ingleses surrounded by the Guggenheim Museum, Raphael Moneo Library and the Cesar Pelli tower.

Jeremías

During 2003, he appeared live in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Cordova, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Salamanca, Canary Islands, among others, having received a great acclamation from the Spanish public as well as music critics in Spain.

José de la Gándara y Navarro

José de la Gándara y Navarro (born 15 October 1820) was a Spanish soldier, born in Bilbao.

José María Íñigo

José María Íñigo (born June 4, 1942 in Bilbao) is a Spanish radio and television presenter and stage and screen actor for Televisión Española.

Jozef Barmoš

At the latter tournament, he scored an own goal as the Czechoslovaks lost 2-0 to England in Bilbao, during the first round of the competition.

Julian de Ajuriaguerra

Julian de Ajuriaguerra (born January 7, 1911 at Bilbao (Spain) and died at Villefranque (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) on March 23, 1993) was a French Basque neuropsychiatrist and psychoanalyst of Spanish Basque origin.

Lewis Waller

Waller was born in Bilbao, Spain, the eldest son of an English civil engineer, William James Lewis, and his wife, Carlotta née Vyse.

Liverpool Blue Coat School

The choir has toured internationally, including to Venice in 2003, Prague and Vienna in 2005, Northern Spain in 2007 and Leipzig in 2009.

Mariví Bilbao

Born in Bilbao in 1930, she soon began acting in theater productions with the group Hispanic Culture of Bilbao (Cultura Hispánica de Bilbao) and with Akelarre, a group which she founded.

Óscar Gómez Barbero

Óscar Gómez Barbero (born June 28, 1961, in Bilbao, Spain) is the Corporate Director of Information Systems at RENFE, the Spanish state railways.

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales

Much of the material used in the construction was imported to ensure it was of the finest quality: the bricks from Málaga, wrought-iron grilles from Bilbao and marble from Genoa, but the building work was carried out by slaves and progressed so slowly that the new governor (the sixth since de Fondesviela), Luis de las Casas y Aragorri, was not able to occupy the building until 1791, and work was not completed until 1792.

Plaza Nueva

The Plaza Nueva or Plaza Barria (New Square) of Bilbao is a monumental square of Neoclassical style built in 1821.

Salford Quays lift bridge

The bridge has a 'sister' by the same designer, located in Plentzia, north of Bilbao, Spain.

Sir David Dale, 1st Baronet

He was also managing partner of Pease & Partners Ltd, and chairman of companies working iron ore mines near Bilbao in Spain.

SS Shepperton Ferry

was withdrawn from service on 26 August 1972 and laid up at Dover before being sold to Hierro Ardes SA, Bilbao, Spain for scrapping.

The Biodiversity Museum: Panama Bridge of Life

The museum should have a similar effect as Gehry's Guggenheim design had for Bilbao, which rejuvenated and placed the city on the map as an important architectural destination.

The Bolla Quartet

After playing the saxophone for only six months, he was picked out to play at the Getxo Jazz Festival in Bilbao.

Tudela to Bilbao Railway

After the Northern Railway (Compañía del Norte) planned a railway from Madrid to Bilbao, bypassing Tudela, it was decided to build a railway to Bilbao and outline permission was granted in 1856.

The Tudela to Bilbao Railway (Spanish: Ferrocarril Tudela de Navarra a Bilbao) is a Spanish railway from Tudela, Navarre to Bilbao.

One of the later tank engines is preserved outside Bilbao Abando railway station.

UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights

It was renamed on 5 May 2008 under the terms of a memorandum of understanding with Mayor of Bilbao Iñaki Azkuna whereby the municipality of Bilbao agreed to fund the prize for a period of three years.

Unified Communist Party of Spain

The PCEU congress held in Bilbao in March 1981 was considered illegitimate by one sector of the party, leading to a split of the party into two.

Widnes-Runcorn Transporter Bridge

The first transporter bridge in the world had been opened in 1893 in Bilbao, Spain.

William Tatem, 1st Baron Glanely

On 14 July Molton tried to enter Republican-held Santander but the insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera captured her and an insurgent armed trawler took Molton to Bilbao, which by then had fallen to Franco's forces.

Xabier Elorriaga

His exiled parents returned to Bilbao in Spain, in 1969 where he commenced studying Law, Engineering and the Merchant Marine but soon switched to the theatre, becoming well known as an actor in the Bilbao of the 1970s.


Alexandrina Pendatchanska

The soprano's debut outside Bulgaria took place in Bilbao, where she sang the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor.

Alexei Shirov

In September 2010, Shirov participated in the Grand Slam Chess Masters preliminary tournament in Shanghai from September 3 to 8, where he faced world No. 4 Levon Aronian, world No. 5 Vladimir Kramnik, and Wang Hao; the top two scorers qualified for the Grand Slam final supertournament from October 9 to 15 in Bilbao against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and world champion Viswanathan Anand.

Antonio Rico

(ESP-ch, semifinal); took 4th at Gijón 1944 (1st it, Alexander Alekhine won); won in semifinal and tied for 3rd-4th in final of Spanish championship at Bilbao 1945 (Antonio Medina won).

Battle of Brunete

Prime Minister Juan Negrín needed to convince the French Premier Camille Chautemps that the Spanish Republic was still capable of military action after the disastrous losses of Málaga and Bilbao.

Cristian Arrieta

Born in Florida to a Basque-Spanish father and an Italian Mother, Arrieta grew up in Bilbao, Spain and Borgomanero in Italy.

Debabarrena

The railway that communicates Bilbao and San Sebastian is also used in Deba, Mendaro, Elgoibar and Eibar mainly as a short-distance train.

Debora Schoon-Kadijk

Partnering her sister Rebekka Kadijk she claimed the bronze medal at the 2004 European Championships in Bilbao, Spain, after having won silver two years earliers on Rhodos.

Garbiñe Abasolo

Garbiñe Abasolo García (born in Bilbao, May 17, 1964) was the first Miss Spain from the Basque region.

Iñaki Anasagasti

Iñaki studied at the Sociedad de María, San Sebastián from 1955 to 1961 and from this date to 1965 in Santiago Apóstol of Bilbao.

Jenaro de Urrutia Olaran

Jenaro de Urrutia Olaran was a painter born in Plencia/Plentzia in 1893 and who died in Bilbao on January 2, 1965 (both in Biscay, Spain).

Jon Bilbao

His father, Juan Bilbao, born in Getxo (Bizkaia), had emigrated "to the Americas" at the age of 12, in 1870.

Manuel Carrasco Formiguera

He then decided to leave again, as a representative of the Catalan Generalitat with the Government of Euskadi, with his family, and embarked at Bayonne on board the Galdames, set for Bilbao.

Marcelino Bilbao Bilbao

Marcelino Bilbao Bilbao (16 January 1920 in Alonsotegi–25 January 2014) was a lieutenant in the Isaac Puente battalion of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) of the Basque Country and survivor of Mauthausen concentration camp and the Ebensee concentration camp.

Marie-François Auguste de Caffarelli du Falga

There he defeated an attempted English landing at Luredo, seized Bilbao, was named governor of Biscay in 1811, completely routed Mina's band and contributed to the raising of the siege of Burgos.

MS Europa 2

Europa 2's maiden voyage started on 11 May 2013 for 14 nights from Hamburg, Germany, and is stopping at Amsterdam, Antwerp, Honfleur, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Leixoes and Lisbon.

Panda Security

Panda Security SL, formerly Panda Software, is a computer security company founded in 1990 by Panda's former CEO, Mikel Urizarbarrena, in the city of Bilbao, Spain.

Pasaje Del Terror

Pasaje Del Terror is an interactive walk-through horror attraction with branches in thirty different cities in Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville, Malaga, Salou, Santander, etc. as well as some of the major cities of the world, such as Rome, Lisbon, Blackpool, Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Cancun, San Salvador and Tokyo.

Puchero

In Philippine cuisine, pochero is composed of the following ingredients: 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into parts, 1/2 kilo pork, cut into cubes, 1/2 kilo beef for stewing, cut into chunk cubes, 8 cups water 6 minced cloves garlic minced, 5 pieces Saba banana, 5 pieces boiled potatoes, quartered, 5 pieces boiled sweet potatoes, quartered, 4 pieces chorizo bilbao, 2 tablespoons oil,1 teaspoon salt, 1 bundle onion leeks,1 cup chickpeas, 1 sliced bundle cabbage and a Pinch salt & pepper.

Spanish rock

There are also large rock scenes in the large cities of the Basque Country such as Bilbao and San Sebastián, Valencia, and in Zaragoza but bands and venues exist throughout the country.

Tourism in the Basque Autonomous Community

The city in Biscay is composed of the titanium which protects the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, the glass which covers the entrances to the metro, designed by Norman Foster, or the steel which makes new urban development challenges possible such as the Isozaki Atea Towers by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, or Bilbao Airport by Santiago Calatrava.

Ulf-Dietrich Reips

Between 2009 and 2013 he was a full time tenured IKERBASQUE research professor at University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain, and remains affiliated with Ikerbasque.

Vía Verde de la Sierra de la Demanda

In 1896 the British company "The Sierra Company Limited" got permission from the Spanish government to build a narrow gauge railway to transport iron from the mines of the Sierra de la Demanda to Burgos, and once there to the Basque steel mills through the Burgos-Bilbao railway line.

Zierbena

The Ferry Port in Zierbena (which is known to some as Bilbao Ferry Port) has two arrivals and departures per week of the MV Cap Finistère (for Brittany Ferries), the sailings have either come from Portsmouth (Portsmouth International Port) or are bound for Portsmouth (Portsmouth International Port).